


a different reason

by thompsborn



Series: tumblr prompts + drabbles [6]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: M/M, but is mostly just fluff, talks about past injuries vaguely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:08:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23082991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thompsborn/pseuds/thompsborn
Summary: “I need you to cover for me.”Flash, who is the latest member of the Spider-Man Protection Squad and definitely still reeling from the fact that he gets to be involved at all, nods his head enthusiastically. “Yeah, man! We got you!”“We definitely do not got you,” Harry cuts in—the realist, really. “Flash can’t lie for shit. Like, he’s worse than Ned, and Ned told Mr. Harrington that you had severe diarrhea from eating too much shrimp last week when you missed decathlon. Harrington didn’t even ask, Ned just—he just said it.”Peter pauses with his suit halfway up his chest, nose crinkled. “Is that why Mr. Harrington asked me if I needed to go home on Friday? God, that’s so embarrassing.”“Yeah,” Harry agrees, nodding, “but Flash? Twenty thousand times worse.”-(a kiss to shut them up)
Relationships: Harley Keener/Peter Parker (background), Harry Osborn & Peter Parker, Harry Osborn/Flash Thompson, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson
Series: tumblr prompts + drabbles [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1655254
Comments: 5
Kudos: 159





	a different reason

**Author's Note:**

> i will be the sole provider of thompsborn fics if i have to be and no one can stop me

In theory, being best friends with a teenager superhero sounds pretty damn cool.

And it is, really—in a lot of ways, it lives up to the hype, feeling like part of an elite club, one of the few people who know the truth about this specific thing and being able to talk in thinly veiled code at school about things that no one else can know. Knowing Spider-Man is a damn treat and a half, even with the worry that comes with hoping that Peter is okay, the bitter taste of heartbreak that lingers in the air when they’re watching a live feed of a fight against Doc Ock and Harley is in tears watching as Spidey gets hurt, the aching knowledge of why Peter is limping in the morning followed by the gratitude when the limp is gone by the afternoon. Which, okay—pros and cons, like with everything. There are good things and there are bad things and it isn’t always all that cool. But, like, for the most part, it’s pretty cool. There’s just the occasional reminder of some of the not so cool things.

Like, for instance, when Peter has to leave in the middle of the school day because the Lizard (the fucking Lizard, because Spider-Man has the weirdest villains ever, what the fuck) is attacking Manhattan and most of the Avengers are away on a bigger mission so it’s down to Peter to bring a stop to it, and the poor vigilante, already down to his boxers in the alleyway by the school and yanking his suit up his legs, looks the two of them in the eye and tells them, “I need you to cover for me.”

Flash, who is the latest member of the Spider-Man Protection Squad and definitely still reeling from the fact that he gets to be involved at all, nods his head enthusiastically. “Yeah, man! We got you!”

“We definitely do not got you,” Harry cuts in—the realist, really. “Flash can’t lie for shit. Like, he’s worse than Ned, and Ned told Mr. Harrington that you had severe diarrhea from eating too much shrimp last week when you missed decathlon. Harrington didn’t even ask, Ned just—he just said it.”

Peter pauses with his suit halfway up his chest, nose crinkled. “Is that why Mr. Harrington asked me if I needed to go home on Friday? God, that’s so embarrassing.”

“Yeah,” Harry agrees, nodding, “but Flash? Twenty thousand times worse.”

“That’s not—” Flash stops, splutters, flapping a hand out in a grand gesture of defense, only to fall short and deflate a moment later. “Okay, yeah, I’m bad, but—but I’ll let Harry do the talking, okay?”

With a satisfied nod, Harry says, “In that case, yes, we got you covered. Go save lives, Spider-Man.”

Peter puffs out a sigh, tugs his suit on the rest of the way before grappling with his mask from his backpack. “Tell Harley not to worry too much about me and that I’ll call him after?”

“It won’t help, but we’ll tell him,” Harry says, taking Peter’s backpack from him.

“Thanks,” Peter murmurs, yanking his mask over his head. “We all hanging out tonight?”

“Even if you’re in a hospital bed,” Harry tells him.

Flash makes a noise. “Please don’t be in a hospital bed.”

That makes Peter snickers, arms lowering once his mask is in place, the eye pieces of his suit shrinking and growing a bit as it starts up. “I’ll try my best. Gotta go.”

And, with a flick of his hand up at the top of the wall beside them, he swings away.

“God, that never gets old,” Flash says, eyes wide as he watches Peter swing around the corner and disappear. There’s an almost childish sort of glee on his face, a grin pulling at his lips as he stares at where Spider-Man just was, eyes wide with awe. “That’s so—it’s so cool. Holy shit. So cool.”

Harry snickers, shoulders Peter’s backpack and says, “C’mon, lets put his bag in my car and come up with a good excuse for why he had to disappear this time.”

Almost in a hero worship kind of daze, Flash follows after Harry like a lost puppy, still glancing over at where Peter had been as if expecting him to appear again. “You think he’s gonna get hurt again?”

“A few bruises, for sure,” Harry answers, unlocking his car and tossing Peter’s backpack into the back seat. “Anything big, like with Doc Ock? I don’t know. I hope not, and not just for his sake. Harley was a fucking mess when that shit went down and I’d rather not have a repeat of that.”

“You say that like you weren’t worried, too,” Flash points out.

Harry hums, swings the car door shut and locks it up again. “I was, but I wasn’t boyfriend worried.”

Flash frowns. “There’s a difference?”

“Oh, god, there’s a difference.” Harry leads them through the parking lot, weaving them between cars and back around the front of the school, heading towards the side door that they propped open in order to get back inside with as little notice to people as possible. “I was just best friend worried, which is—don’t get me wrong, that’s a lot of worry, too, but I was able to kind of keep my cool and logically tell myself that Pete was most likely gonna be fine. Harley was only able to keep his cool when he was in front of Peter, but as soon as he was out of Peter’s sight, he fucking lost it. Like, he _lost it,_ lost it. He was a _wreck.”_

“Jesus,” Flash murmurs, pulling open the door and holding it to let Harry inside first. “So, is it, like—”

“Shh—”

But Flash doesn’t seem to hear Harry shush him doesn’t seem to hear the footsteps around the corner of someone who is undoubtedly about to catch them sneaking back into the school in the middle of third period, keeps happily saying, “Is it a worse kind of worry or is it just a more intense kind of worry? Like, it has to be at least more intense when you’re dating fuckin’ Spider-Man, but—”

Harry curses lightly. The footsteps are getting closer. “Flash—”

“—but would it still be just as intense if it was just Peter and if Peter wasn’t Sp—”

With a strangled noise, Harry lurches forward, doing the only thing he can think of that will make Flash stop talking, grabs him by the sides of his face and pulls him forward to crash their lips together, his heart thundering in his chest with anxiety over the thought of someone overhearing Peter’s identity, but his heart only seems to pick up speed when, instead of lurching back or anything, like one would expect, Flash responds by just making a rumbly sort of noise in surprise before kissing back enthusiastically, one hand coming up to cup Harry’s cheek in his palm, the other clutching Harry’s sweatshirt tight in his grip.

It’s not—well, okay, the entire point of the kiss was to make Flash be quiet, but, Harry can’t pretend he isn’t enjoying it, actually kind of loves it, loves the way the mold together with ease, moving in sync and leaning into it and Flash’s thumb with swiping over the apple of Harry’s cheek with a gentle gentle gentle kind of touch, which is very nice, and, okay, maybe he can’t—maybe—maybe it’s possible that Harry has a bit of a crush on Flash anyway, maybe it’s been there for a while now, bubbling beneath his skin and pressing against his ribcage, because maybe they have a really well structured understanding of one another, of their lives and how they were raised and maybe it’s nice, how well they can share a look and just know that something is wrong, and maybe the reason Harry’s first reaction to shutting Flash up was this, because maybe Harry is a little bit selfish and wanted to know what kissing him was like in the first place. Doesn’t matter, really, because what matters is that it worked, and the footsteps that had been approaching them come to a sudden halt after turning the corner a few feet away. And then:

“It’s just me,” MJ tells them, voice dripping with amusement as they lurch away from each other. “But I’m just gonna leave so you two can talk about this and finally get your head out of your stupid asses.”

Flash blinks at Harry, wide eyed and full of shock, as MJ spins on her heel and walks away, leaving the two of them alone. Harry stares back, holding his breath and waiting for a reaction, which comes in the form of Flash letting out an uneven breath and asking, “You kissed me because someone was coming?”

“Uh—” Harry clears his throat, still cradling Flash’s face in his hands. “Yeah.”

“Not for any other reason?” Flash questions. “Just for that one reason and absolutely nothing else?”

Harry averts his eyes with a wince. “Well—”

An almost smug sort of smile pulls at Flash’s lips. “Then keep kissing me.”

“Oh, thank god,” Harry breathes, already leaning back in.

**Author's Note:**

> spidey-lad on tumbly woohoo send me more shit to write if u want


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